The Pope County Quorum Court’s Budget Committee made some progress toward agreeing on a 2012 budget before running into a familiar road block during Monday night’s budget meeting.

After approving all but one of the items remaining after its Nov. 21 meeting, an hour and 30 minutes of discussion yielded no decision on the circuit clerk’s 2012 budget — one of the same issues that prompted Justice of the Peace Gordon Thornsberry to move all budget items to revert back to their 2011 totals for more discussion at a previous meeting.

The sticking point for JPs was the addition of a full-time employee whose hiring the court had previously authorized as a part-time employee. Circuit Clerk Fern Tucker said she discovered later the employee was deemed full-time and entitled to retirement benefits because she worked 32 hours per week, when to be deemed part-time she would have had to work less than 30 hours per week.

Justice Dusty Hampton, who said he was not in favor of adding a full-time employee but wanted to follow an attorney’s advice on the matter, moved the committee add the employee as a full-time employee with full benefits and not refill a position in the department should a full-time employee leave.

Thornsberry added an amendment to effectively place a freeze on all county departments with the exception of the road department, the Pope County Library, sheriff’s deputies on the road, jailers, 911, EMS and the Election Commission. Madelyn Ginsberg seconded the motion, but the court decided rather than amending Hampton’s motion, Thornsberry’s proposal should be formed into a separate ordinance. The portion of Hampton’s motion specifying the position will not be filled should it be vacated was also removed.

With the understanding that a simple majority was needed to pass the motion, the motion passed 7-4, with Justices Don Daily, Ginsberg, Thornsberry and David Ivy voting against.

Ivy said he objected to the Circuit Clerk’s office allowing the employee to become full-time when the court had only authorized a part-time employee.

“I’m not supporting another full-time employee with all this going on,” Ivy said. “There’s $29,000 in part-time money available. If you subdivide that up, you can put more people out there for a shorter amount of time than you could with a full-time employee if you have four different places you need people.”

Hampton then reiterated he was not in favor of the addition but felt it was the “right thing to do” given the situation.

The committee then approved Thornsberry’s proposal 7-2 to begin a conditional hiring freeze for the county, with justices Philip Haney and Roy Butler voting against.

Hampton said he felt the issue of a hiring freeze may have caused the short margin of passage for his original motion and called for a revote. Daily then moved to make the employee part-time again for 2012, but then withdrew the motion.

Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson recommended the court take separate votes for the two budget items which justices seemed to have quarrels with — circuit clerk and library, for which Kim Virden voiced his opposition — so the remainder of the budget may be prepared for the full court’s Dec. 13 meeting.

The committee unanimously approved separating the vote at the next committee hearing on Dec. 6.